FG trains 200 youths, women in cassava and tomato processing in Cross River
The Federal Government has trained 200 youths and women on cassava, yam, and tomato processing, packaging, value addition, and utilization in Cross River State.
The training conducted by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) in collaboration with the Cross River State Agricultural Development Project CRADP had 80 participants in the tomato value chain 55 participants in yam and another 55 in the cassava value chain.
Declaring the training opening in Calabar, the Programme Manager, Cross River Agricultural Development Project Mr Bassey Edet commended the Federal and Cross River State government for the training and the farmers in the state for their resilience at making a mark in the agricultural sector in the country.
He said the training is aimed at building the capacity of the farmers and extension agents on processing, packaging, value addition, and utilization in the state to cushion the effect of climate change and the removal of fuel subsidies in the country.
Edet said the training was also meant to teach the young men and women profitable ways of processing, packaging, value addition, and utilization of cassava, yam, and tomato in the South-South, South East, and South West regions of the country.
He explained that the training was also targeted at making the trainees knowledgeable on products that could be made from tomato, cassava, and yam as well as their byproducts which can be used for the production of several other products.
The Programme Manager therefore charged the participants to take the training seriously to justify the Federal Government effort.
Earlier, the state Coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mrs Offiong Inah-Ibor said the training is coming now that the Federal Government has declared a state of emergency in the food sector to enable farmers to produce food that would be enough for every Nigerian and make the country sself-sufficientin food.
She charged the trainees to ensure the utilization of the training by putting what they had learned into practice for their benefit and that of society.
Some participants who spoke in separate interviews thanked the Federal Government for the training saying, it would increase their capacity for cassava, yam, and tomato farming.
Mr James Udeme Effiong from Calabar South local government area in the cassava value chain thanked President Bola Tinubu and the minister for agriculture and Rural Development for the training which he described as timely and promised to use the knowledge acquired to boost his farm.
Effiong however appealed to the government at all levels to come to their aid in the area of empowering the farmers as not all of them can acquire some of the equipment needed for processing and packaging of their products.
Alison Omang of the yam value chain said the training has allowed him to learn better methods of preserving, packaging, processing, and utilizing yam, stressing that he will put into practice the knowledge gained at the training.
Moses Okpeke from Obubra local government area in the tomato value chain commended FMARD for training them in the new method and techniques of tomato cultivation and processing saying the knowledge acquired at the training would go a long way to help the economy as well as households given the harsh economic situation occasion by the removal of fuel subsidy in the country.
He said it would also better their living standards and mitigate food insecurity in his local government area, state, and the country as a whole.
While commending FMARD for the training, one of the resource persons at the training, enjoined beneficiaries to remain committed to their work, adding that the training has created an avenue for them to learn new methods of tomato cultivation, processing, and packaging and also earn better from their produce.
